We started in Sikeston MO, about 160 miles south of St. Louis, a town with a very small central business

district, a lot of businesses on the Rockville Pike-like outer roads, and a surprising number of fine old houses.

From Sikeston, we went 30 minutes south to New Madrid, a planned town that never took off, but which sits on a major fault line and was the site, in 1812, of the strongest earthquake ever to hit North America. There is a very good museum with very complete (it seems) information about earthquakes in general, about the Indians who lived in the area before Europeans arrived, and about the Civil War in and around New Madrid, all of which is very interesting.

Much of the agriculture south of Sikeston is cotton, and we were surprised, on October 30, to see so much cotton still waiting to be picked. A lot, however, was already baled, waiting to be carted to the cotton gin.

The Mississippi at New Madrid, hidden behind a high berm, is beautiful and was surprisingly busy with barge traffic.

From New Madrid MO, we drove to Paducah KY. A part of our route was remarkably fascinating. We were on an older U.S. highway, and crossed the Mississippi on an old two lane bridge into Illinois, just outside of Cairo, and then a virtually immediate right turn onto a similar bridge into Kentucky over the Ohio River, just before it spilled into the Mississippi.

Paducah is a surprisingly interesting town, filled with artist studios, trendy eateries, and the National Quilt Museum. Our goal was the Quilt Museum, but we never got there, deciding to peep into galleries and craft stores, instead. The ice cream was tempting.

Historically, Paducah had an active Jewish community, evidenced in part by the Cohen sign at Stella’s Restaurant (Stella Cohen had at one time been an owner of the property), and in part by the reference to Finkel’s on its former building. You may also recall that after General Grant issued Order #11 expelling Jews from the geographic area under his control, that it was a group of Jewish businessmen from Paducah who successfully asked President Lincoln to reverse the order.

After lunch in Paducah, we got back on the road, wanting to make Elizabethtown before dark. We got here, had a nice dinner at a popular Indian restaurant and I watched on the restaurant screen a kabaddi match. You know what that is? I didn’t.

Oh, yes, we did stop on the way at Center City KY, to pay homage to the Everly Brothers. Older brother Don was born there.

Today, the goal is Weston WV. Tomorrow, the goal is home.